For those of you feeding cancer-specific diets, please share your personal experiences and recipes here! Tell us what has worked and what hasn't, where you get your foods and supplements, any side effects, etc.

This would be a great resource for others!

And please include any helpful links and the complete article(s) you find.

Never make someone a priority in your life when that someone treats you like an option.

From what I have read and talked to other people about a diet high in protein and fat and low to no carbs is what you want. Cancer feeds on Carbs and Sugars.

First of all there are several pre-made diets you can feed;Science Diet - Hill's Prescription n/d. This food is high in protein and fat but also contains some carbs [one of the top 3 ingredients being Rice.]Innova EVO - Very high protein and fat content. No grains.Canidae All Life Stages Grain Free - High Protein and fat content. No grains.Taste of the Wild - They apparently have a diet with no grains, not sure which one?Wellness - I believe they have a no grain mix as well.

Out of all of these I would personally go with InnovaEVO or Canidae with No grains. I think n/d could be alright if it didn't have Rice in it and wasn't so over priced and hard to obtain. Afterall, it is proven in clinical studies to work

I am still in the research stage but here is what I have for my dog Sofie.

She gets 1 cup of this homemade diet per day. You want to feed 2%-3% of the dog's body weight.

I bought a pack of chicken leg quarters and baked them in the oven at 375 for about an hour. After the meat cooled I put it in the food processor and chopped it up quite a bit, it reminded me of tuna when you make it into a sand-which, also poor in the remaining fat in the pan. To this I added Broccoli, Spinach, and Green Beans[all processed]. I also added some Raw Chicken Hearts[processed as well], I just couldn't bring myself to cook them. I'll be using Liver the next go round. I mixed all of this together and took 1/2 cup scoops and put them on a cookie sheet to freeze. 5 leg quarters, a bag of broccoli/green beans/spinach made enough for Sofie to eat for about 2 weeks. I thaw 1/2 cup in the fridge, mix in 2tbsp of plain yogurt, she gets 1 fish oil cap am/pm, 1 flaxseed cap am/pm added to the mix.

I'm going to play around with using celery, sprouts, maybe some cabbage. Broccoli is really good for an anti-cancer diet, Spinach too. I also am giving her a raw egg twice a week - good protein, fat, and it has biotin in it.

I talked to Angie [Vinny's mom] about this so I got my recipe from her. I've done a lot of google searching but am still looking for potential extra supplements/herbs to go in the food as well as learning what vegetables are good in a cancer scenario.

Also for those worried about the diet being complete you can buy a supplement that will complete your meal at www.balanceit.com

As I find good websites with info I'll post them here, there just aren't any good websites that just say 'This is how you do it' it's really frustrating.

What a great Sticky!!!We moving forward into the land of nutrition for aiding Bella with her fight with MCT...As of tomorrow,,,it will be raw chicken,,with a variety of veggies,,,I have some venison,,,should this be cooked first?.I will be raiding my neighbors freezer soon....I know they've got LOTS of venison,,,and hunting season opens soon,,,so I think I'll go do some of my own begging for that hamburger I've been turning down all year long (I only like the chops )

I have some venison,,,should this be cooked first?.I will be raiding my neighbors freezer soon....I know they've got LOTS of venison,,,and hunting season opens soon,,,so I think I'll go do some of my own begging for that hamburger I've been turning down all year long (I only like the chops )

Here's what I found online:Eating fresh venison is not recommended because parasites and tapeworms are common. Freeze venison for 24-48 hours (48 is better) before eating or using it to make sausage or jerky. This will kill parasites and tapeworms. Cooking to 160 degrees will also kill these parasites.http://missourifamilies.org/features/fo ... sfty42.htm

Just a notation from our personal vet about cancer diets, allergy dogs, and chemo:

Dr F advised me to not change ANYTHING during the chemo because it would make it difficult to determine if any change in symptoms was related to the drug, food, or to other changes being made. Made sense to me. He did not discourage me from changing diet once the chemo was complete.

The point here, you can easily trigger an allergy response when changing foods and it could complicate the process. Anyone who has fought with allergies can appreciate what this really means.

The point here, you can easily trigger an allergy response when changing foods and it could complicate the process. Anyone who has fought with allergies can appreciate what this really means.

This is a very good point. I guess I should add MY dog has no food allergies so I and my vet saw no problem is starting a home made diet. As with anything you should always consult your vet before starting a new food, supplement, etc. I should also add that as a person who has a cat with severe food allergies [allergic to most proteins - least allergic to fish] if I were making him a home made diet I would be sure not to feed him a food made out of things he is allergic to.

This sticky is an excellent idea. I had to research a lot before I found a site that has good guidelines for cancer diets. I looked into kibble, but decided on a partially cooked, partially raw diet for Vincenzo. Here is a link to the guidelines I use:

There is a good explanation of carbs, proteins, fats, raw cancer diet, and cooked cancer diet on here. Everything at the website pretty much went along with the bits and pieces of info I found elsewhere. I do not use the supplements there so I don't endorse them. We consulted a homeopathic person, Carolann, for Vinny's supplements (thanks, Dee for all your help). The link to her website is:

Shanna makes an excellent point above. Please, please, please consult your vet about any changes you want to make to your dog's diet and supplements especially if there is a history of allergies or other issues. In the end, I think you must trust yourself. You know your dog better than anyone else. Pay attention to the things you know about your dog, the changes you see, and ask questions--lots of questions. Learn as much as you can and make informed decisions.

Vincenzo and I wish you many blessings as you go through this journey.

Weird I re-replied at work and it didn't show up. I want to better explain myself -

First off ALWAYS consult your vet when you are making a diet change, whether your dog is getting chemo or not.

Secondly if your dog has a food allergy don't feed it something it is allergic to. Even if someone says that they can eat it raw vs. cooked, if your dog is allergic to chicken, they are allergic to chicken cooked or not. I had a holistic vet try to get me to feed my cat raw chicken even though he is highly allergic to chicken, I tried it, and it made him scratch his face raw as usual.

In the end, I think you must trust yourself. You know your dog better than anyone else. Pay attention to the things you know about your dog, the changes you see, and ask questions--lots of questions. Learn as much as you can and make informed decisions.

This is a great point as well, learn as much as you can, you can never be too educated about your pet's health.

I feed all my dogs except Four RAW. I am trying to switch him over but at this age, he's kind of stuck in his ways. He will eat the RAW grinds (organic veggies, meat, organ, bone) but those are kind of expensive to feed exclusively, so I'm slowly trying to get him to like the dreaded chicken backs he tottttally turns his nose up at those. We are making progress though because he initially was turning his nose up at the chicken grind but he gobbles it up now. He has always liked the Buffalo and Venison grinds from jump.

For now until we can make the full switch he gets Eagle Pack Holistic for Seniors with some of the canned eagle pack mixed in. He also gets eggs, plain yogurt, dried kelp, apples, and helpings of the raw grinds.

Well Four shocked the crap out of me last night by eating a partial chicken back. I was getting everyone's dinner ready and splitting backs. He was looking at me so intently and I had a small portion of a chicken back in my hand so I thought "hm, let's try it....". I totally expected him to turn his nose up but he chomped right down on it. I emptied his kibble right back in the bag and split another chicken back, added some grind, yogurt and an egg and he ate the whole bowl

I buy chickens and grind them, every bit of 'em,,,then add to the grind,,,,,minced fresh garlic, spinach or broccoli,,,egg. She gets raw almonds for a snack. I will also be feeding ground venison, beef liver and heart..... I'm a organ grinder,,,,and I always thought of an organ grinder as an accordian player

There will be more that comes into play soon,,I am waiting for supplements to arrive.

I know that I have more to learn about a "cancer diet", but I feel as if we are off to a good start.